Treat your hospital like it’s a retailer.

Your hospital needs to operate like the best-in-class in any of these categories.

It’s not enough to just have a great front face on your hospital. You can be the most differentiated healthcare provider on the planet, but if what you promise and what you deliver don’t line up, that’s a big problem.

I remember working at what is now DDB Needham in Chicago back in the mid-80’s.

Sears hired us to help remake their look and feel to the general public.

It was a wonderful campaign. Beautifully executed. Put Sears in a completely different light – never seen before.

And never to be seen again.

Problem was when consumers walked into the store, it looked and felt the same. Dated clothes, less than hospitable personnel. Just a generally gloomy feeling.

The campaign was widely praised…at first. But it quickly became clear that without the people and the stores holding up the brand promise, it was doomed to fail…which it did.

So, what does this all mean for your hospital marketing and facility and personnel.

You need to treat your hospital like a retailer.

In retail, people matter. They are a foundational element to fulfilling your brand promise. If your employees don’t understand your mission or feel like the hospital isn’t clearly defined, the experience will break down.

Your people in particular are critical to your hospitals viability long-term.

If your people believe in you, your people will carry that spirit forward into every interaction they have with potential customers.

They will become great stewards and referral sources for your hospital group. The value they can bring will be worth any investment you make to unite the organization.

So, as a marketer, what do you do?

There are plenty of solid marketing agencies out there that can help you develop campaigns for your internal communications efforts. Key is finding one that understands the importance of going beyond just creating pretty internal portals and motivating posters, but one that knows how to engage employees in the process and understands the dynamics of different constituents, and knows how to integrate an internal campaign with a community campaign to extend the value of internal efforts.

Need help? Happy to help you find a new agency to support a program like this. Just reach out and we can start a conversation: msneider@rswagencysearch.com

Mark is a 30-year veteran of the consumer packaged goods, advertising, and marketing service industry. Mark started his career at DDB Needham in Chicago prior to earning his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Business School at Northwestern where he majored in Marketing and Economics. Prior to starting RSW/US in 2005, Mark was General Manager for AcuPOLL, a global research consultancy. Sneider worked in Marketing for S.C. Johnson and KAO Brands. Sneider has been invited to speak at numerous Agency events and network conferences domestically and internationally including the 4A’s, Magnet, NAMA, TAAN, and MCAN. Sneider has been featured in prominent industry publications including Adweek, Media Post, e-Marketer, and Forbes. When not working (which often seems like not often), Mark likes to run miles, go to church, and just chill with a hard copy issue of Fast Company.